China’s music markets are forbidden cities to some singers

Just as the world media is beginning to dip a toe into the busy Chinese underground music scene, the New York Times has this unsettling story of how in anticipation of the Olympics, the government in Beijing has passed new laws forbidding foreign entertainers who have run afowl of their censorship policies. The vague but fairly sinister new rules ban from China "Those who used to take part in activities that harm our nation’s sovereignty" and also artists who "advocate obscenity or feudalism and superstition.”

It's hard to say exactly who or what qualifies as advocating "superstition" or "fuedalism" in song, but after the government's severe frowning over Bjork's Tibet-amended edition of "Declare Independence" at a Shanghai concert this year, that topic is presumably off-limits for foreigners. It'll be interesting to see how or if these rules will affect homegrown acts, as these new laws apparently also apply to performers from Hong Kong and Taiwan, two territories governed by China but who enjoy a greater degree of political and cultural autonomy.

It's hard to imagine how China can continue to ramp up its economy while keeping such draconian rules about who can entertain its growing concert-going classes, so after the Olympics are over, wait and see if these new rules indicate a larger grab at media and entertainment control by Beijing.

-August Brown